Meanwhile, the MENA region is still slow to catch on to this idea of exercising to engage the mind as well in order to broaden the pursuit of a conditioned body.
It’s not enough, or beneficial, to score some rocking abs. In fact, it never has been, because exterior ideals are ultimately pointless if you don’t look after what’s keeping everything oiled and in tune behind the curtain.
This and more is the message and mission for holistic health expert Julie Rammal. The celebrity fitness trainer was in town last month for the Dubai Fitness Expo and invited me to learn more about her mysteriously-effective methods during a private consultation.
Rammal’s list of fitness services seem to have no end – from Holistic Personal Training, Posture Analysis, Yoga and Pilates for Fitness to Aromatherapy, Energy and Crystal Healing, Meditation and Sound Therapy. She is also a clinical nutritionist who has been having success healing diabetics and cancer patients through food.
Her clients – who include everyone from athletes and high-flying actors to Arab royals – also seek her out (and sometimes fly her out) for consultations in India’s ancient Ayurveda systems, detox, weight loss and anti-aging (she even has something called Anti-Aging Facial Fitness on her extensive menu…).
Rammal has a theory that has only recently started to penetrate people’s opinions about medicine. She says that very soon our continuous reliance on antibiotics and injections will see our bodies shut down altogether; that these medicines almost offer the same effect as a Band-Aid by simply covering up an issue rather than really solving its root problem. And she believes this because she has lived through it herself.
“How this all started for me? Well, I’ve had a lot of troubles in life – everything from eating disorders to very abusive relationships and more. And along the way I basically realised that medicine couldn’t help me, I had to find a new way to treat and heal myself,” shares the jetsetter, who divides her time between California and the Gulf region for her wellness brand JSport.
“I started exploring alternative medicine. I learned all these disciplines that train the external body, but after about 10 years of that I realised that it’s not enough; my clients’ bodies were speaking to me and I realised that they needed something more. In the end that’s how we got to my brand of Holistic Fitness. Our body, mind, soul and emotions are interrelated and affect one another, and so the Holistic Fitness routine teaches you to listen to your body, mind and spirit and work in tandem with it rather than against it.”
Julie Rammal.
Rammal’s first consultation with you might frighten you a bit – she appears to have this unique ability to read a body internally just by looking at you; she can absorb its energy, she says. And what feedback she receives will determine how your internal and external training programme with her will take its course.
Without my speaking to her beforehand, in under a minute she was able to accurately describe my physical and emotional status; to point out body parts and organs that commonly ailed me (and still do – although now I have the combatting tools); to spot where there were blockages and misalignments, and where I was holding tension based on me performing just a few simple movements.
Based on this collected information, she could then prescribe the right routine and treatment suited to me and my issues, down to the tiniest daily habits eg. breathing techniques, foods to eat and avoid, and even the suggestion of tongue scraping in order to clean the palate to make way for receiving the right kinds of food (she seems to follow Palaeolithic and Ayurvedic diet systems).
“We’ve lost a connection to our own body language along the way – your body does talk to you via pains, aches and more, and each body part is associated with certain emotions. We seem to suppress all this information with medication,” says Rammal.
“But I’ve been treating people for a very long time and am able to pick up on these things for you. Bodies seem to sense that I am a teacher and connect with me. So I’m here to relay the message and open up a dialogue so we can get to the root causes.”
I came to her dressed and prepared for a gym session so I obviously wasn’t prepared for what I got. Needless to say, I confess I immediately wanted to go home and buy her DVD to study her further before shelling out cash for some of her less expensive Skype sessions.
It’s true, her in-person fitness services do not come cheap – they average around $250 a pop – but in a way, that’s fair. Holistic Fitness is designed to keep all the other doctors we commonly end up seeing for various things away; to assist you in throwing away half a cabinet’s worth of pills you probably don’t need. It’s emotionally invasive, very in-depth. Perfect for busybodies.
For fitness enthusiasts out there, don’t worry, you will also get your dose of good exercise with Rammal. Not only does Holistic Fitness give you a full-body workout that includes strength, stretch and detox work, it also opens up one’s meridian lines or chakras; techniques which in turn help combat various illnesses such as anxiety and depression, develop immunity, fight obesity and other more serious diseases.
Other specially curated fitness programmes, such as one called Lung Tonic, even target bronchitis, colds, coughs and influenza. A Core-Immunity programme detoxifies your core organs to boost immunity, while others focus on posture re-alignment, cellulite and weight loss.
“I firmly believe that Holistic Fitness is the answer to every human problem – known and unknown,” says Rammal. “It all stems from the mind and your positivity. If your thought processes are clean and positive, it affects the body and that’s how you look slimmer, younger, fitter etc. Humans often imprint all these emotions and trauma on the body via the mind instead of glorifying and celebrating it, and that’s how you start to get sick, age quicker, gain weight…
“The more connected you are, the stronger you are.”
While in Dubai, Julie Rammal launched her Holistic Fitness programme ‘The Evolution of Movement’ and she hopes to return in 2017 for other sessions and conferences. She is also available for more affordable online sessions, as well as offers a training programme for aspiring practitioners. Her two-week fitness programme DVD is also popular and can be purchased, alongside her services, via her website www.jsport.co
WHAT: Julie Rammal Holistic Fitness programme
WHERE: For information on how to register, visit www.jsport.co
VERDICT: With the emphasis on overall wellness, you can hope for some long-lasting benefits.
